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| Image: Flickr User - Ash Carter |
By Shannon Tiezzi
In announcing its displeasure with the deal, China is careful to lay the blame on Washington, not Singapore.
As my colleague Prashanth Parameswaran noted yesterday, the United States and Singapore just signed an enhanced defense cooperation agreement. The agreement covered a wide range of areas, including expanded defense dialogues and increased cooperation on cybersecurity and counterterrorism. However, the announcement that garnered the most attention was the news that Singapore will allow U.S. surveillance aircraft to operate from the city-state. A U.S. P-8 Poseidon aircraft will be deployed in Singapore from December 7 to 14 – and it is widely expected to be used in part to keep tabs on China’s activities in the South China Sea.
China was none too happy with the agreement. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that “the overall situation in the South China Sea is peaceful and stable,” just as regional countries want. “Against a backdrop as such, is military deployment and regional militarization by the U.S. in line with the aspiration shared by countries in the region?” Hua asked. She immediately answered the question on China’s behalf: “In our point of view, it goes against the common and long-term interests of countries in the region.”
It’s interesting that Hua takes the United States to task for “regional militarization” without laying any blame on Singapore, which agreed to host the U.S. deployment of a P-8 surveillance aircraft (and already hosts U.S. littoral combat ships). After all, Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Singapore for a state visit just a month ago. Chinese officials, hoping to smooth relationships damaged by the South China Sea disputes, cited the friendly China-Singapore relationship as a potential model for China-ASEAN ties. That adds an extra twist to the announcement made this week, during Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen’s visit to Washington, D.C.
For Singapore, however, there’s no paradox. A careful balancing act between the United States and China is seen as the best avenue to securing the country’s interests.
Read the full story at The Diplomat